Published on 29 May 2013

Chaika won 10m Air Pistol Women event, six years after her last victory

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Marco Dalla Dea

Home shooter Dorjsuren Munkhbayar took Bronze, after firing a disappointing 7.2 shot. Silver to Malaysia's first time finalist Cheah Lee Yean Joseline.

Viktoria Chaika, 32, from Belarus, won today's 10m Air Pistol Women final, with 199.6 points. And she probably did not expect it. The four-time 32-year old Olympian had indeed won her last world cup match back in 2007, six years ago, when she had pocketed a Gold medal here in Munich.

 

Chaika was smiling on the podium, but today's hasn't been an easy match to win. The Belarusian shooter started off the match from the eighth and last position, with a qualification score of 384 points. But with the new rules, the qualification score is not carried forward into the final anymore. A good chance for Chaika, who started climbing up the scoreboard, shot after shot.

 

Shot 17 has been the turning point of the match. Germany's 1998 World Champion Munkhbayar Dorjsuren, who had been leading the first part of the match, fired a disappointing 7.2 shot, eventually taking the Bronze medal with 175.1 points.

 

At the same time, Malaysia's first time finalist Cheah Lee Yean Joseline, 29, fired a great 10.7, securing a spot in the final duel for the Gold medal against Chaika, the Belorussian shooter having 1.8 points lead.

 

The last two shots were just thrilling. Both Chaika and Cheah scored a 10.6, so that the gap between the two remained 1.8 points in favor of Chaika. On the last shot, the Belarusian shooter fired first, scoring a disappointing 9.0. Cheah did not take advantage of it, shooting a 9.0 shot as well, ending up in second place with 197.8 points and leaving the Gold to Chaika.

 

The Olympic Silver medallist of London 2012, Celine Goberville of France followed them in the final rankings, a she had to walk out of the firing line after shot 16, taking the fourth place with an overall score of 155.3 points.

 

London's Olympian Heena Sindhu of India, 23, dropped out of the match at the first elimination, after the eighth final shot, with a score of 76.1 points. 47-year old Serbian shooter Jasna Sekaric, the 1988 Olympic Champion and three-time Olympic Silver medallist, followed her after shot 10 with 96.5 points. It was Sonia Franquet of Spain who took the sixth place, with an overall score of 116.7 points, after shot 12. One of the best pistol shooter of the world, the Georgian athlete Nino Salukvadze, 44, had to live the match after shot 14, finishing in fifth with 136.3 points.